1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a game fish attractant and, more particularly, to a fishing lure which utilizes integrated ultraviolet reflective material to attract game fish.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to provide game fish lures, such as baits, spinners, jigs and the like, with a coating which reflects a visible light of a predetermined wavelength. This imparts a visible color to the game fish lure to visually stimulate game fish toward the lure. One drawback associated with such visible light reflective material being applied to a game fish attractant is that visible light cannot penetrate deeply through the water. Accordingly, as the game fish attractant is dropped deeper into the water, depending on the intensity of the ambient light, the clarity of the water and certain other factors, the color of the game fish attractant diminishes significantly. Indeed, at depths below three meters the colors in the visible spectrum may become virtually invisible to game fish. As the ultraviolet component of sunlight can penetrate water to a depth or more than ten meters, it would be desirable to provide a game fish attractant which utilized ultraviolet light to attract fish beyond a depth of three meters.
Unlike humans, fish have tetra-chromic vision. In addition to receptors for red, green and blue light, certain game fish have a fourth receptor sensitive to ultraviolet light. This allows the game fish to “see” ultraviolet light, which is invisible to humans. Game fish are provided with a sufficient number of ultraviolet receptors so as to allow them to identify reflections of ultraviolet light to a depth of two hundred meters or more in clear water. This allows the game fish to identify things such as blood and prey which reflect light in the ultraviolet spectrum, but would go unnoticed to the human eye at such depths.
To capitalize on this phenomenon, it is known in the art to provide an ultraviolet light reflective coating to enhance the effectiveness of natural and artificial baits and lures in the catching of game fish. As identified in U.S. Patent Application No. 2006/012116 to Milan Jeckele, which is incorporated herein by reference, it is known to apply a viscously fluidic water based polymeric composition to the surface of natural and synthetic baits, which then dries to form a thin, resilient coating on the bait reflective of ultraviolet light. Such coatings contain between one-half percent to seven percent by weight of ultraviolet light reflecting titanium dioxide, sufficiently fine to remain suspended in the coating composition in its fluidic state, and water impermeable when dry.
One drawback associated with such prior art ultraviolet light reflective surface coatings is that such surface coatings provide an unrealistic appearance across the visible spectrum when the lures are used at a shallow enough depth to reflect visible light. An additional drawback associated with such prior art surface coatings is the tendency of the surface coating to wear off from the lure during use, giving the lure an irregular and undesirable ultraviolet reflective signature. It would, therefore, be desirable to provide a game fish attractant which reflected ultraviolet light, but which also provided a realistic visible light spectrum signature and which resisted irregular wearing of the ultraviolet coating.
The difficulties encountered in the prior art discussed hereinabove are substantially eliminated by the present invention.